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Speed Record Breaker Donald Campbell Drove This 1961 DB4 GT, and Now It Sells

For most people with an interest in machines, the name Donald Campbell needs no further presentation. The Brit, killed in a speed record attempt in 1967, remains to this day the only human to have set both land and water speed records.
1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT owned by Donald Campbell 5 photos
Donald Cambell and the Bluebird K7Donald Cambell and the Bluebird K7Donald Cambell and the Bluebird K7Donald Cambell and the Bluebird K7
Campbell loved machines, so he naturally owned plenty of cars, ranging from Jaguars to Land Rovers and even MINIs. For a brief period, he even owned a 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT. And now the car is on sale at a Bonhams auction.

This particular GT is one of just 45 units produced, and was initially kept by Aston Martin as an official demonstrator car. Somehow it ended up in Campbell’s possession, who held on to it until late 1961.

The car no longer has the original engine but was fitted since Campbell sold it with a racing engine sourced from a DB4 GT Zagato 1 VEV. That particular car was a challenger in the 1961 Le Mans 24 Hours race.

Until the 1980s, and with this engine on, the car toured hill climbs, sprints and Concours events across the UK. Its career came to an end in 1991, when the current owner purchased it.

Since that time, the DB4 GT underwent a six-year-long restoration and mechanical overhaul process, at the hands of Swiss specialists Max Wetzel and Roos Engineering. Supposedly the car is now in perfect shape.

Bonhams plans to sell it at the Goodwood Revival Sale next weekend (September 14). Hopes are the DB4 GT will fetch up to £2.8 million ($3.4 million).

Born in 1921 in Kingston upon Thames in Surrey, Donald Campbell started chasing after water speed records soon after the end of the Second World War. His name is most frequently associated with the Bluebird, a three-point hydroplane powered by a jet engine.

Behind the stick of a variant of the Bluebird called K7, Campbell set records, but also died.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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